Life is full of milestone birthdays starting with the very first birthday at one year old. After the first birthday, there are many milestones along the way that are worth celebrating. The experts at The Stationery Studio were asked to help celebrate milestone celebrations on the Today Show this morning with gift and party planning ideas. With ideas for every milestone, TheStationeryStudio.com has put together a list of ten important milestone birthdays worth celebrating:

1 – Turning one is a milestone within itself!

10 – Turning double digits

13 – First teenage birthday and bar/bat mitzvah for Jewish teens

16 – The Sweet Sixteen

18 – Teenagers can drive

21 – Legal drinking age

30 – The age where you are considered old

50 – Considered “over the hill”

65 – Official age of retirement

100 – An honor to make it to 100!

What other milestone birthdays do you think are important to celebrate?

If you’ve been watching the news, you’ll know that Prince George is turning one tomorrow. There is even a social media hashtag trending in his honor: #HappyBirthdayPrinceGeorge. I am sure the royal family will be throwing a lavish party fit for the prince. While most of us won’t be throwing parties for princes, any baby can feel like royalty on their first birthday with party invites and decor from The Stationery Studio. I am sharing some of my favorites for ideas for your own party!

For even more personalized items, we have personalized party supplies and baby gifts to make any 1st birthday party special. And of course, make sure to take lots of photos of your little one making a mess of their birthday cake. That’s always my favorite part!

This week I made some delicious carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for teacher appreciation week. It was the perfect chance for me to try out our new baking cups. And of course, I like to make almost anything that has cream cheese frosting on it! I used the following recipe and it turned out great!

For the cupcakes (makes 12):

1 cup flour

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups grated carrots (heaping)

⅔ cup oil

2 eggs, beaten

For the frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

2+ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the grated carrots and the oil. Slowly add the flour mixture, stirring until just mixed. Add the beaten eggs and stir a few times (like 15 or less around the bowl – the fewer the better)!

Scoop batter into baking cups about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way. Bake for 15 minutes, check how they’re doing, and add a few minutes if necessary. I find that the baking time varies greatly with oven, so just check for the right golden brown color and springy tops. Allow the cupcakes to cool.

For the frosting, blend the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to a plastic bag or similar tool for piping the frosting evenly on the cupcakes.

I used our Lilac Damask Stripe Large Baking Cups for these cupcakes. They worked really well and looked beautiful on a serving tray. While I used these for a teacher appreciation luncheon, I was thinking of different events these would be ideal for and these are a few I came up with:

Bridal Shower

Graduation Party

Baby Shower

Ladies Luncheon

Mother’s Day Brunch

1st Birthday Party

Of course, there are many more uses, but these were the first to pop in my head. Let me know what you think of our new baking cups and if you decide to use them for your special event. I would love to hear what you do with yours! xoxo Jennifer